Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: Discover News reports that although it's big, meaty, looks innocuous, and smells delicious, the death cap is now an invasive species on every continent except Antarctica and is spreading along the East and West Coasts and appears to be moving south into Mexico. "When someone eats Amanita phalloides, she typically won’t experience symptoms for at least six and sometimes as many as 24 hours.," says Cat Adams. "Eventually she’ll suffer from abdominal cramps, vomiting, and severely dehydrating diarrhea. This delay means her symptoms might not be associated with mushrooms, and she may be diagnosed with a more benign illness like stomach flu. To make matters worse, if the patient is somewhat hydrated, her symptoms may lessen and she will enter the so-called honeymoon phase." Without proper, prompt treatment, the victim can experience rapid organ failure, coma, and death. But good news is on the way. S. Todd Mitchell of Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, California has treated more than 60 patients with a drug derived from milk thistle. The patients who have started the drug on time (within 96 hours of ingesting the mushroom) and who have still had kidney function intact have all survived. “When administered intravenously, the compound sits on and blocks the receptors that bring amatoxin into the liver, thus corralling the amatoxins into the blood stream so the kidneys can expel them faster,” says Adams. "“As long as the drug is started within 96 hours or less following an ingestion of these deadly mushrooms, we’ve had 100% of patients make full and complete recovery." Still, Mitchell cautions against the “regular look” of deadly mushrooms. “They smell very good and when they’re cooked, many patients have described them as the most delicious mushrooms they’ve ever eaten. Unfortunately, famous last words for some.”

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